1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to digital communication portable terminals including cellular phones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), HHPs (Hand Held Phones), camera phones, and game phones, and more particularly to a semi-automatic sliding device for a sliding-type portable terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, “portable communication apparatus” refers to an electronic apparatus that a user can carry to perform wireless communication with a desired partner. To facilitate portability, designs of a portable communication apparatus tend not only to be compact, slim, and light, but are also moving toward providing multimedia availability, having a wider variety of functions. In particular, future portable communication apparatuses are expected to incorporate greater multi-functionality and be capable of multi-purpose utilization, as well as to be more compact, light, and capable of being modified to be suitable for various multimedia or Internet environments. Additionally, portable communication apparatuses are now commonly used by people of all ages and all walks of life throughout the world, and are considered by some people as a nearly indispensable commodity which must be carried all the time.
A portable communication apparatus may be classified into various categories according to appearance, such as a bar-type portable communication apparatus, a flip-type portable communication apparatus, and a folder-type portable communication apparatus. A portable communication apparatus may also be classified as a neck wearable type portable communication apparatus or a wrist wearable type portable communication apparatus according to the position or way in which a user puts on the portable communication apparatus. In addition, a portable communication apparatus may be classified into a rotation-type portable communication apparatus and a sliding-type portable communication apparatus according to the manner of opening and closing the portable communication apparatus. These variously classified portable communication apparatuses can be easily understood by those skilled in the art.
Meanwhile, conventional portable communication apparatuses now tend to transmit data at a high speed in addition to performing the basic voice communication function. In other words, in response to increased consumer demand, a portable communication, apparatus will typically provide a service using a wireless communication technology capable of transmitting data at high speed.
Recent portable communication apparatuses also tend to be equipped with a camera lens to obtain video signals for transmission. In particular, current portable communication apparatuses have an external or embedded camera lens module which enable a user to perform video communication with a desired partner or to photograph a desired subject.
However, conventional sliding-type portable communication apparatuses, as disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 2002-71911, and related U.S. Pat. No. 6,822,871, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, have a problem in that it is difficult to manufacture them in a slim size, because the main housing and the sliding module for opening/closing the sliding housing cannot be made in a slim size. This results from the fact that a torsion spring for providing a force necessary for opening/closing the sliding housing from/on the main housing is positioned between the front and rear covers. Furthermore, the sliding device for conventional sliding-type portable communication apparatuses has a large number of components, resulting in a complicated assembly process that can quickly deteriorate.